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Saturday, March 3, 2007

Understanding Joker Arroyo

It was painful watching the honorable and venerated Joker Arroyo making a lame pitch for his senatorial candidacy.

I refer to the proclamation rally in Cebu (that it was aired in full by Channel 9 clearly shows how government resources are being used to further the interests of Team Unity bets), where he delivered quite a short and crisp speech. From my standpoint, it was pretty obvious that he was not thankful for being there. He knew there was something wrong with his being there with the characters on stage.

Before he spoke (as with everyone else, I learned later), his television ad was flashed:

I admit, there were no misrepresentations in his ad. He did everything that he proclaimed.

But I guess we can’t stop people from pursuing this pitch with the question: “against whom?”

Who was trying to surreptitiously alter the country’s principal law that Joker had to stand tall defending it? Who was it who besmirched the reputation of the Senate as an institution so that it may no longer exist to block their shameless ambitions? Who was it who tried to stifle dissent, who tried to suppress basic rights of assembly and dissent so that the citizens may no longer have a forum for the discussion of their shenanigans? Pray tell me, against whose claws did Joker save us and our constitution from?

Answer: GMA and her cohorts.

So why is he holding hands with these b*st**ds now?

Funny, but I did see a twitch in GMA’s lips when the ad was being played. She is not stupid not to know she was the enemy being referred to.

In that specific rally, Joker spoke little. Maybe because he really did not have much praises for his allies.

He only highlighted the major reason for joining Team Unity – the failure of the Genuine Opposition to denounce violent means of overthrowing the present dispensation.

Ahem. Was he not the same Joker Arroyo who enjoyed the fruits of EDSA I, which was, for all intents and purposes a coup d'etat, gone successful? He did not say then that coups are a disgrace to nationhood.

Was he not the same Joker Arroyo who stood by GMA’s side when Erap was ousted (please spare me the headache of discussing the mythical difference between the succession issues of EDSA I and II)? EDSA 2 was also supported by dissident military and police officials and such would have been capped by violence had Erap not decided to leave in peace.

I am not saying I support coup d'etats, because, aside from the fact that it is a criminal offense, it really depends on the causes being advanced.

All I’m saying is that getting the Opposition to denounce the means will be useless, inasmuch the rebels are always heralded as heroes when the plot succeeds. If it fails, they very well know the consequences.

On the other hand, history tells us that the turn-over of governments became peaceful only because the subject leader had the grace to succumb to the people’s will.

My point? If there is anyone who should not embrace violence – as a means for perpetuating her stay in power, it is GMA and her minions. It is she who should swear to respect the constitutional processes and embrace her accountabilities to the Filipino people without resorting to the violence of numbers. It is she who should refrain from sowing terror to avoid meeting public scrutiny.

But with GMA foretelling that the world will not tolerate another EDSA, it is crystal clear that when the time comes for the swelling of another mass uprising, she will not have the magnanimity to concede defeat. That to me is more potent threat than the coup plots whispered in the darkness. With the former, violence is sure to happen while with the latter, violence is a matter of last recourse.

As to Joker, I still believe that he is needed in the Senate. No aspirant one is more qualified for the job. This hand-holding with the enemy is but a survival tactic. I’m confident that when he returns to his seat, the clasp will loosen and he again will be a pain in the administration’s fat asses.

Does GMA expect loyalty from her converts? I’m sure she does. But can she really rein the maverick? I guess not. He is not like Brenda who once frothed in the mouth denouncing GMA but later salivated in the latter’s Lilliputian lap. I still have to hear him glorify Gloria.

What is simply upsetting is to watch “the” Joker Arroyo kissing ass in order to be where he rightfully should be.

Either there’s something wrong with him ….. or with us, Filipino voters.